Rediscovering Zuko
by Canimasian
Summary: Katara wakes up one day with no recollection of her new life as Fire Lady. She struggles to remember this new life and can't imagine willingly marrying the boy who terrorized her and her friends all over the world. With the help of her friends and family, she may be able to overcome her internal conflict and the complete distrust she has regarding Zuko. No explicit content.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender. If I did, I wouldn't have to write fanfics.

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Katara woke to the sound of voices. She didn't open her eyes. She just wanted to keep sleeping.

"Katara?" That raspy voice. It sounded familiar, but she was too tired to think anything of it.

"Your Highness?" Who was that? Maybe she should get up; this voice was unfamiliar.

"Let her sleep. She is fine otherwise. She is strong." Something touched her right cheek, so she opened her eyes and found someone slightly hovering by her right. She couldn't immediately identify who it was in her grogginess. But the haziness of sleep was slowing disappearing to reveal… Zuko.

She immediately whipped him with the water from her waterskin. He fell to the ground and looked up at her, wiping water from his face.

"Katara, it's _me_," he said.

"I know _exactly_ who you are!" She leapt out of bed. "Where's Aang? What did you do to him?" She should just attack him right now, but that wouldn't help Aang. Zuko needed to be in one piece but she won't go easy on him - again.

"Wha-"

"Katara! Thank Tui you're alright!" Sokka stormed into the room and rushed to her side. Wait, where _was _she? Toph and Sukki followed after him, none of them noticing Zuko. "What are you doing?" Sokka sounded incredulous.

"Ahhhhhh" The shriek came from a toddler in Sukki's arms. _What's going on?_ The toddler lunged forward into Katara's arm, a huge smile on her face. She started cooing.

"Sukki, where did this baby come from?" What was a toddler doing alone in these dangerous times?

"Why, that's your daughter, Your Highness. Do you not remember?" Katara did not notice the elderly man standing somewhere behind her. The unfamiliar voice she heard earlier belonged to him. There was a bed between her and him. When did she sleep in a bed? The words he said just registered in her mind.

"Wait, what? My…daughter?" Was she hallucinating? She didn't recall having anything weird. Maybe the Fire Nation heat was getting to her.

She looked down at the child in her arms. This had to be a joke, this couldn't be her daughter. Katara was too young to be a mother. And this girl, she wasn't from the Water Tribes. She could be from the Fire Nation…only she was slightly darker than their typical pale complexion. But her eyes, those big blue eyes, were exactly what Katara saw in her own reflection. And the girl's cheekbones resembled Sokka's. Stranger yet, this little girl was clearly familiar with her. The toddler rested her head on Katara's chest, cooing…contently? How could she be her daughter? The only time she remembered having anything close to a child was when she pretended to be Aang's mother.

"She missed you. You slept through an entire day." Zuko spoke softly. The only time he spoke softly was in the catacombs…right before he…

"Don't talk, liar." Zuko looked at her warily.

"What's with the hostility, Katara? Zuko didn't do anything." Sokka said. Why was he defending him?

"Zuko didn't _do_ anything? Did you suddenly forget he's been hunting us across the world?"

"Wait, what?! That was so long ago…wait! What's the last thing you remember?" Sokka was being weird. Everyone was actually. Where was Aang?

"Is Aang safe?" Sokka wouldn't like being ignored, but he'd let it slide if involved keeping Aang safe.

"Aang? Of course he is! He is a grown man, he can take care of himself." And with that Katara realized everyone _did_ look older. What was happening? This _must_ be a dream. "He is in the Earth Kingdom swamps, trust me. He is fine. But what do you remember?"

Katara didn't register all of that, but if Aang is safe she can relax a bit. But she didn't like having Zuko there. Who knew what he would do? Her friends didn't seem too concerned though.

"Please excuse me, Chief Sokka. We should proceed with caution. I believe the Fire Lady might be suffering from some significant memory loss." Memory loss? Fire Lady? Wait? They couldn't be talking about…

"Sugar Queen lost her memory?" _No._ No, no, no, no, no. It can't be. This must be a nightmare. She was ready to wake up now.

"Yes, Lady Beifong."

"Shouldn't we discuss this elsewhere?" Zuko began. "Won't Katara be overwhelmed? Shouldn't we take Kya elsewhere?"

"Don't you dare say my mother's name!" That vile, conscious-free monster had no right to utter her mother's name!

"He wasn't talking about mom, Katara." Sokka said calmly. "He meant your daughter." He paused, then added "both of your daughter".

"You heard him, Sugar Queen. Your daughter," Toph "clarified". Then she spoke the cursed words that had Katara's world crumbling to the ground. "With Zuko. Your husband."

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**A/N:** So, I'm not exactly happy with the prologue and may edit it at a later time, but I just needed to get this out. The following chapters should be a bit better and convey the tone that is in my head. Until then, this will have to do. As usual, R&R. :)


	2. And so it begins

Disclaimer: I wish A:TLA belonged to me.

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It had been two weeks since Katara had woken up to her living nightmare. Toph and Sukki had to leave the day after she had woken up. But Sokka had stayed for a bit, to make sure she was ok. She wasn't. How could she be if she was married to Zuko?

She was heavily guarded by the palace guards. And despite Sokka's insistence that they were really looking out for her, Katara couldn't help but feel like a prisoner. At least, she didn't have to share her bed with Zuko. She would have tried to flee. Except she had a daughter.

There was no denying Kya was hers. Even with Zuko's hair and strong nose mixed in, she was undeniably her daughter, too. So Katara had Kya with her every night since her accident. And Zuko didn't try to yank her away. But Katara could tell Kya was missing her father.

Over the past two weeks, Katara noticed Kya was usually well behaved and enjoyed her company. But her daughter adored Zuko to no end. And Katara was told the feeling was mutual, but it was hard to believe.

So with a little nudge from Sokka before his departure, Katara had decided to maybe go back to what was supposedly her own bed. Even though that was also her enemy's bed. The thought of it made her sick. Or angry. She wasn't sure which one it was. She sometimes wondered if all this was a ploy to use her to get to Aang? Except Aang was safe. So was everyone else. Plus Zuko was no longer the banished Fire Nation prince. So there was really no reason to think that. And, besides, she was doing this for Kya.

She knew she wouldn't have been able to sleep there if she saw Zuko in there first. So Katara had gone to bed earlier and busied herself with Kya. Otherwise she would have duck-chickened out or been riddled with nerves.

After a while, Zuko entered the room.

"Aaaaaahhh!" Kya's excitement was hard to miss. Even Katara had to smile at it.

Zuko just chuckled and moved towards a screen.

Katara looked away as she realized her enemy was changing his clothes for bed. Even with the screen there, she felt uncomfortable. She certainly did not think she'd _ever_ be in the same room as the Fire Prince when he was changing his clothes.

When Katara felt the large bed dip on the other end, she turned around and saw Zuko laying face-up in bed in just a pair of plain pants. It certainly didn't fit the idea of the spoiled prince she thought Zuko might have been. Though he did travel the world in less-than-luxurious circumstances, and he did spend some time in the lower ring of Ba Sing Se.

Kya sprang out of Katara's arms and crawled over to Zuko. She shrieked happily again. Despite Kya's excited greeting, Zuko just lay there with his eyes closed. She hit Zuko, probably to grab his attention, but he didn't move. So she tried again. Katara stayed alert. Zuko wouldn't hurt his own daughter, right? But he _was_ the crown prince of the Fire Nation - no, the _Fire Lord_. Kya just kept hitting his arm as he fell asleep.

Zuko abruptly turned over and lunged at Kya. Katara was about to counter attack, but realized he was tickling Kya. As Kya giggled with delight, Katara realized this was their thing. And, suddenly, she hated not remembering her life here. Not knowing what her own daughter liked. Worse yet, her enemy did know what her daughter liked and disliked.

Zuko turned on his back while lifting Kya into the air. She clapped and shrieked some more. Katara couldn't help but smile at her daughter's joy, which only increased as Zuko kept bringing her towards his face then lifting her. Eventually, he sat her on his stomach. Kya then ran her hands along a large, star-shaped scar. _How many scars _does _ he have? Did he get that the same time as the one on his face?_ Kya then started tapping the scar on his chest.

"You're getting stronger everyday, Kya." Zuko's raspy voice was laced with pride.

Kya rested her head on his chest and stretched her tiny arms across his torso in a Kya-sized hug. "Ba ba ba ba ba ba."

Zuko chuckled in response. "I missed you too, my little dragon." He gently rubbed her back as she lay there.

It was hard to believe this was the same Zuko who had chased Katara and her friends around the world. The very same Zuko that had betrayed her after she had tried to help him. The Zuko that would always be her enemy…yet, here he was. His quiet tenderness was a huge contrast to the loud passion she associated with him…

Then Kya looked at her with her arm outstretched toward her. "Ma ma ma ma ma?" Katara placed her finger in Kya's hand. And for the time being, Katara just sat there as Kya fell asleep on Zuko while holding onto her finger. It wasn't until after Kya was completely asleep that Katara noticed Zuko was staring at her.

Not knowing what to do, Katara decided a quick "good night" was safe and closed her eyes, pretending to fall asleep.

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A/N: Sorry for the long wait. So, this was originally supposed to a few short chapters...but, I guess the story became a little longer than I had intended. Let's see where this goes. I know the chapters are pretty short so far, but -trust me- some of them will much longer. Anyway I hope you like it so far. As usual, reviews are much appreciated (especially if you have some constructive tips for writing). :)


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